Australian Northern Territory's govt readies for $259 million health IT rollout

Single health system to be rolled out across the Territory.

The Northern Territory government has selected InterSystems to replace four obsolete clinical IT systems with a single platform across NT's entire public health system.

Under the $259 million, five-year Core Clinical Renewal Program (CCSRP), InterSystems, through its local integrated partner Dialog Information Technology, has been asked to create a unified healthcare information system through the territory.

Once implemented, the system will enable territorians to engage with their own healthcare information, clinicians to achieve better connections with patients and one another, and healthcare data to be exchanged among vital institutions through interoperability, said InterSystems VP, Steve Garrington.

NT Health has established an advisory group - the Clinical Leadership Team - to support the CCSRP team throughout the five-year life of the project.

"This is a major investment delivering a single digital medical record for all Territorians. It enables our nurses and doctors to focus on treating patients and delivers the high quality health services that Territorians want and deserve," said NT minister for health, Natasha Fyles.

The project is also expected to create local jobs with InterSystems committing to opening a local office with Darwin with 17 staff. During peak delivery phase, around 100 people will be involved in the project.

The CCSRP is subject to oversight through a steering committee comprising chief executives of health, DCIS and treasury; regular reporting to the NT Government ICT Governance Board; and additional reporting of performance and progress to government; and independent quality assurance reviews.

NT has followed Queensland and NSW in announcing technology upgrades for health services. In its 2017-18 budget, the Queensland government put aside $135.4 million for upgrades and new IT systems for its health service. NSW has also allocated $522.5 million for health technology projects.